1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the safe and complete removal of snow, sand, or other materials away from and right up against doors, buildings, or other obstacles. The invention addresses the issue of snow or other material removal being limited to areas a safe distance away from buildings and other obstacles, resulting in snow and other materials left up against buildings, doors and other obstacles. This can result in the need to step over, climb over, or hand shovel the material away, but in many cases the material is just left where it is. This often results in stuck vehicles, loss of access, or doors frozen down, and snow left piled up can create ice dams, which can cause water to back up into buildings.
The invention can be quickly attached or removed when needed, or remain mounted all the time to a bucket, plow, blade, blower, snow blower, or other equipment, and can be designed to attach to either end of the bucket, plow, blade, blower, snow blower, or other equipment. The invention can be used to clear away unwanted material from buildings, doors, or other obstacles and into the bucket, plow or blade with no resulting damage. The invention can fit a variety of applications through a variety of designs and through a variety of flex edge designs. The invention has a proportionally small size in comparison to most of the plows, blades, buckets, blowers, snow blowers or other equipment, it would attach to. Because of this small proportional size the invention won't create a strong side force on the machine being used to clear away material.
2. Description of Prior Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,145,825: 3,604,517:3,279,104: 3,805,424: 4,275,514: 3,807,064: 4,073,077: 5,638,618: 5,148,617: 4,962,600: 4,741,116. There are a myriad, and diverse number of wing or extension constructions that serve to extend the width of a plow blade or bucket and, or to prevent a trail of snow or other material from sliding off the end of a bucket or blade, but none that address the issue of complete clearing of unwanted material away from buildings, doors, and other obstacles. Prior art does not allow for physical contact between the plow blade or bucket extension and the obstacle, and if said contact did take place, severe damage to the obstacle could and would result. The current invention: Zero Clearance Attachment, is designed to solve these issues, while not causing damage to the obstacles being cleared around thus providing more complete snow or other material removal.